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Thinking about Peace
"Together with the World Friendship Center"
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by Michiko Yamane
Chairperson of the Board, World Friendship Center
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More than thirty years have passed since I got involved in the World Friendship Center (WFC).
While raising children, I started coming to WFC when I was in my early 30s and since then, I have really improved my understanding of Peace issues.
Through volunteering activities such as interpreting hibakusha stories and Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park guiding, I have had many chances to meet wonderful people from abroad and to broaden my horizons.
About 40 director couples have come to WFC from America and I know as many as 25 of them.
Though each had a unique personality and different skills, all of them were pacifists and very dedicated to their duty.
I could not help admiring their hard work.
I was appointed the third chairperson in May 2012.
Since then, on top of daily activities, WFC has held a number of important events like the One World Peace Concert, the opening of the Schmoe House, and the staging of "Breaking the Silence", a play depicting the plight of Japanese-Americans in American internment camps during the World War II.
We celebrated the 50th anniversary of WFC in April 2015 with 27 guests from abroad, including former directors and descendants of Barbara Reynolds.
We had a series of memorial events for a week as well as the 50th Anniversary ceremony.
This summer, WFC will accept teachers from the Middle East and support their workshop on peace education.
Barbara Reynolds and the World Friendship Center
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Barbara came to Hiroshima in 1951, when her husband Earle was dispatched to the Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission (ABCC) by the U.S. government.
She was shocked to see the devastation brought about by the American atomic bomb.
She identified herself with hibakusha, and left the words, "I, too, am a hibakusha."
The Barbara Reynolds Monument was erected in Peace Memorial Park in 2011.
These same words are inscribed on the monument.
In 1962, along with two hibakusha, Barbara went on a Peace Pilgrimage to the nuclear countries, and again in 1964, she went around the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and Europe with 42 hibakusha, teachers, doctors, and interpreters.
She appealed for the abolition of nuclear weapons.
In 1965, Barbara founded the World Friendship Center with Dr. Tomin Harada.
She was given the title of a Special Honorary Citizen of Hiroshima for her dedication to world peace and for making Hiroshima known to the world.
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Barbara Reynolds
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WFC activities
Hibakusha accounts
The WFC provides rooms for overnight guests, and with advance request, we provide international visitors from around the globe with a chance to listen to first-hand accounts by hibakusha of how their lives were affected by the A-bombing.
They tell their experiences with the wish that "No one else should ever suffer as we did."
I have been interpreting hibakusha accounts for a long time.
The average age of hibakusha has reached 80 and the time left to listen to their stories is limited.
WFC needs to determine how to preserve these stories for the future.
Guided tour in Peace Memorial Park
Knowledgeable trained Japanese volunteers provide our guests with guided tours of the main 15 monuments in Peace Memorial Park in English.
We have a study group meeting once a month.
Peace Ambassador Exchanges
Peace Ambassador Exchanges (PAX) are the evolution of Barbara Reynolds' idea that world peace begins with the building of personal and lasting friendships.
PAX programs are now conducted between America and Japan and between Korea and Japan.
The Korean PAX started in 2003.
It is a good opportunity to exchange ideas related to peace and reconciliation.
Eight delegates including young people and a hibakusha are going to Korea in March 2016.
Youth Peace Camp
Junior and senior high school students from China, Korea and Japan get together in an annual summer camp.
After spending several days together, they become good friends overcoming misunderstandings in their past shared history.
Visits to Mutsumi-en each month
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Mutsumi-en visit
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WFC directors and English class students have visited an A-bomb survivors' nursing homeon the third Thursday of each month since 1985.
Funairi Mutsumi-en is the first nursing home for A-bomb survivors in Japan, established in 1970 next to Funairi Hospital.
There are 100 residents there.
They cheerfully welcome us and my sidekick for ventriloquism.
We celebrate birthdays, share stories, and play games together.
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Other activities
There are English conversation classes taught by the American directors, translation classes to translate A-bomb related texts, Peace Seminars to study nuclear issues, Peace Choir which practices monthly and presents concerts, the publication of the "Yu-Ai Newsletter" three to four times a year, the monthly "Fun Time in English" activity, and a Christmas party.
You cannot get bored at WFC.
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Profile
[Michiko Yamane]
Appointed as the third Chairperson of the Board of WFC in 2012.
1987-1990, lived in Hong Kong, volunteering at Hong Kong Red Cross Hospital and the camp for Vietnamese boat people.
1994-1995, lived in Washington, D.C., volunteering at a Soup Kitchen for homeless people and at Meals On Wheels for elderly people.
2001, participated in a trip for healing and reconciliation supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and met British former POWs.
2010, visited University of Central Missouri as an interpreter for hibakusha.
Dispatched to the U.S., Germany, Poland and Korea on WFC's Peace Ambassador Exchange program to date.
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